1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon thin layer to be employed as a power generating layer of a solar power generating element, and to a solar power generating element.
2. Description of the Background
A solar cell has been conventionally manufactured by forming a p-n junction by making use of a substrate having a thickness of several hundreds micrometers and consisting of a monocrystalline silicon or a polycrystalline silicon. However, due to a rapid increase in demand for the solar cell nowadays, the supply of silicon crystal substrate is now failing to meet the demand. Therefore, due to this unbalanced relation between supply and demand, there is seen a tendency to raise the price of the substrate. Under such circumstances, it is now difficult to achieve the aim to reduce the cost of solar cell so as to propagate the solar cell.
In view of the circumstances mentioned above, there have been many attempts to deposit a silicon layer on various kinds of substrate by means of plasma spraying. However, since the silicon deposited by means of plasma spraying is considered in any of these attempts as being a substitution for a polycrystalline silicon as represented by a cast silicon, the thickness thereof is as thick as 100 .mu.m or so, so that it is impossible, with these attempts, to solve the shortage in supply of the raw silicon material.